Essay Preparation Strategies • 309
FIGURE 12.3
Excerpt from a Sociology Textbook
Political Systems in Global Perspective
Political systems as we know them today have evolved
slowly. In the earliest societies, politics was not an entity
separate from other aspects of life. Political institutions
first emerged in agrarian societies as they acquired
surpluses and developed greater social inequality. Elites
took control of politics and used custom or traditional
authority to justify their position. When cities developed
circa 3500–3000 B.C.E., the city-state—a city whose
power extended to adjacent areas—became the center of
political power.
Nation-states as we know them began to develop in
Europe between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries (see
Tilly, 1975). A nation-state is a unit of political
organization that has recognizable national boundaries and
whose citizens possess specific legal rights and
obligations. Nation-states emerge as countries develop
specific geographic territories and acquire greater ability
to defend their borders. Improvements in communication
and transportation make it possible for people in a larger
geographic area to share a common language and culture.
As charismatic and traditional authority are superseded by
rational—legal authority, legal standards come to prevail
in all areas of life, and the nation-state claims a monopoly
over the legitimate use of force (Kennedy, 1993).
Approximately 190 nation-states currently exist
throughout the world; today, everyone is born, lives, and
dies under the auspices of a nation-state (see Skocpol and
Amenta, 1986). Four main types of political systems are
found in nation-states: monarchy, authoritarianism,
totalitarianism, and democracy.
Monarchy
Monarchy is a political system in which power resides in
one person or family and is passed from generation to
generation through lines of inheritance. Monarchies are
most common in agrarian societies and are associated with
traditional authority patterns. However, the relative power
of monarchs has varied across nations, depending on
religious, political, and economic conditions.
Absolute monarchs claim a hereditary right to rule
(based on membership in a noble family) or a divine right
to rule (a God-given right to rule that legitimizes the
exercise of power). In limited monarchies, rulers depend
on powerful members of the nobility to retain their thrones.
Unlike absolute monarchs, limited monarchs are not
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considered to be above the law. In constitutional
monarchies, the royalty serve as symbolic rulers or heads
of state while actual authority is held by elected officials in
national parliaments. In present-day monarchies such as
the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, and the Netherlands,
members of royal families primarily perform ceremonial
functions. In the United Kingdom, for example, the media
often focus large amounts of time and attention on the
royal family, especially the personal lives of its members.
Recently, the European Union (of which the United
Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands are all
members) has also received media attention as a form of
governmental cooperation across national boundaries but
not one that weakens the powers of the present-day
monarchies.
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system controlled by rulers
who deny popular participation in government. A few
authoritarian regimes have been absolute monarchies
whose rulers claimed a hereditary right to their position.
Today, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are examples of
authoritarian absolute monarchies. In dictatorships, power
is gained and held by a single individual. Pure
dictatorships are rare; all rulers need the support of the
military and the backing of business elites to maintain
their position. Military juntas result when military officers
seize power from the government, as has happened in
recent decades in Argentina, Chile, and Haiti. Today,
authoritarian regimes exist in Fidel Castro’s Cuba and in
the People’s Republic of China. Authoritarian regimes seek
to control the media and to suppress coverage of any
topics or information that does not reflect upon the regime
in a favorable light.
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state seeks
to regulate all aspects of people’s public and private lives.
Totalitarianism relies on modern technology to monitor and
control people; mass propaganda and electronic
surveillance are widely used to influence people’s thinking
and control their actions. One example of a totalitarian
regime was the National Socialist (Nazi) Party in Germany
during World War II; military leaders there sought to
control all aspects of national life, not just government
operations. Other examples include the former Soviet
Union and contemporary Iraq before the fall of Saddam
Hussein’s regime.
To keep people from rebelling, totalitarian governments
enforce conformity: People are denied the right to assemble
for political purposes, access to information is strictly
controlled, and secret police enforce compliance, creating
an environment of constant fear and suspicion.
Many nations do not recognize totalitarian regimes as
being the legitimate government for a particular country.
Afghanistan in the year 2001 was an example. As the war
on terrorism began in the aftermath of the September 11
terrorist attacks on the United States, many people
developed a heightened awareness of the Taliban regime,
which ruled most of Afghanistan and was engaged in
fierce fighting to capture the rest of the country. The
Taliban regime maintained absolute control over the
Afghan people in most of that country. For example, it
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FIGURE 12.3 (continued)

required that all Muslims take part in prayer five times
each day and that men attend prayer at mosques, where
women were forbidden (Marquis, 2001). Taliban leaders
claimed that their actions were based on Muslim law and
espoused a belief in never-ending jihad—a struggle
against one’s perceived enemies. Although the totalitarian
nature of the Taliban regime was difficult for many people,
it was particularly oppressive for women, who were viewed
by this group as being “biologically, religiously and
prophetically” inferior to men (McGeary, 2001: 41).
Consequently, this regime made the veil obligatory and
banned women from public life. U.S. government officials
believed that the Taliban regime was protecting Osama
bin Laden, the man thought to have been the mastermind
behind numerous terrorist attacks on U.S. citizens and
facilities, both on the mainland and abroad. As a
totalitarian regime, the Taliban leadership was recognized
by only three other governments, despite controlling most
of Afghanistan.
Once the military action commenced in Afghanistan,
most of what U.S. residents learned about the Taliban and
about the war on terrorism was based on media accounts
and “expert opinions” that were voiced on television.
According to the political analyst Michael Parenti (1998),
the media play a significant role in framing the
information we receive about the political systems of other
countries. As discussed in previous chapters, framing
refers to how news is packaged, including the amount of
exposure given to a story, its placement, the positive or
negative tone of the story, the headlines and photographs,
and the accompanying visual and auditory effects if the
story is being broadcast. In politics and government,
framing is not limited to information we receive about
other countries: It can be used to frame a political agenda
in this country, as well.
Democracy
Democracy is a political system in which the people hold
the ruling power either directly or through elected
representatives. The literal meaning of democracy is “rule
by the people” (from the Greek words demos, meaning
“the people,” and kratein, meaning “to rule”). In an ideal-
type democracy, people would actively and directly rule
themselves. Direct participatory democracy requires that
citizens be able to meet together regularly to debate and
decide the issues of the day. However, if all 295 million
people in the United States came together in one place for
a meeting, they would occupy an area of more than
seventy square miles, and a single round of five-minute
speeches would require more than five thousand years
(based on Schattschneider, 1969).
In countries such as the United States, Canada,
Australia, and the United Kingdom, people have a voice in
the government through representative democracy, whereby
citizens elect representatives to serve as bridges between
themselves and the government. The U.S. Constitution
requires that each state have two senators and a minimum
of one member in the House of Representatives. The
current size of the House (435 seats) has not changed
since the apportionment following the 1910 census.
Therefore, based on Census 2000, those 435 seats were
reapportioned based on the increase or decrease in a
state’s population between 1990 and 2000.
In a representative democracy, elected representatives
are supposed to convey the concerns and interests of those
they represent, and the government is expected to be
responsive to the wishes of the people. Elected officials are
held accountable to the people through elections. However,
representative democracy is not always equally accessible
to all people in a nation. Throughout U.S. history,
members of subordinate racial–ethnic groups have been
denied full participation in the democratic process. Gender
and social class have also limited some people’s
democratic participation. For example, women have not
always had the same rights as men. Full voting rights were
note gained by women until the ratification of the
Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
Even representative democracies are not all alike.
As compared to the winner-takes-all elections in the
United States, which are usually decided by who wins
the most votes, the majority of European elections are
based on a system of proportional representation,
meaning that each party is represented in the national
legislature according to the proportion of votes that
party received. For example, a party that won 40 percent
of the vote would receive 40 seats in a 100-seat
legislative body, and a party receiving 20 percent of the
votes would receive 20 seats.

Source: Text material from Diana Kendall, Sociology in Our Times, 6th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007), pp. 450–454.

would use in your answer. Then take a few minutes and organize it. Finally, outline
your answer. Think back to the active study strategies that you learned in Chapter
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10. Planning your answer is an active preparation strategy that incorporates all of
the ICOW strategies (identify, condense, organize, and write).

Gather Information
An easy way to gather information is to treat each question separately. Write each
question across the top of a large piece of paper. Then open your text and your
notes to that section of the material. Start to look for information that you would